The GMD Archives — Forgotten Plotpoints: Mystery of the Document
Which document you say ? Precisely, we haven't got a clue about it. The document we are talking about is this big document with a red wax seal, that Ratigan holds in a concept art shown last time. center|500px The scene itself is easy to recognize. That's the scene where Basil and Dawson are tied in Ratigan's devilish mousetrap, and Ratigan is mocking the. Notice that the idea of a morally down Basil is not there yet: he is angry here. But instead of just talking like in the final scene, where the only thing he holds (and only for a second) is his tiny, hardly plot-relevant watch, he is showing Basil and Dawson… He is showing them… He shows a… center …'WHAT IS THIS THING ?!?' Trying to read it is useless: it's not even Arabian writing, although it does look like it, it's the kind of spiderly scrawl any drawer will put on his papers when he has no time to write the words in very small writing. We are supposed to believe that something in good english is written on this. What is it ? I did consider that this seal here might indicate that this was a fake of some important paper. Perhaps, in a forgotten storyline, Ratigan planned to show this to the queen ? But this theory, all thought up, made no sense. The basic plot-device of Olivia coming to Basil, seeking his help to find her kidnapped dad, was already there. And why would Ratigan kidnap Mr Flaversham if not to have build the robotic Queen Moustoria ? And why would Ratigan need the fake document if he has the robotic Queen Moustoria, then ? We're missing the point. Now let's think carefully. Is there any plot-relevant document that appears in the final movie ? Yes, there are. First there is Fidget's lost list, of course. center|500px But it has no seal, is significantly shorter than our Mystery Document, and Ratigan sadistically showing it to Basil to mock him wouldn't make any sense. Ah, but this list is not alone, we do have another one more in store: center|500px This is the list of odious reforms proposed by Ratigan when he becomes « supreme ruler of all the Mousedom ». Of course, it's even a gag in itself that it's a ridiculously long list feet and feet long. But as a throwaway gag, the fact that the list is so ridiculously long could very well have been cooked up later. And it definitely makes sense for Ratigan to show mockingly this list to Basil. Perhaps instead of reading them to the audience of the Golden Jubilee, Ratigan could have only read them to Basil at that moment, but not having time to read them to the audience later. Of course, it makes that the idea of Dawson being the first one to understand Ratigan's intention couldn't be used, but since Basil wasn't depressed at that moment either in this version solves the problem. This is a very reasonable guess. Shall we stop here and be content with our first plausible guess ? No. For there is another similar document who may fit the part even better: center|500px The letter given by Valet Fidget to Queen Moustoria just before he shows her her robotic clone. It has got the right size, and it would make sense for Ratigan to show it to Basil and Dawson given that it includes this line about the queen's reign « coming to an end ». Ratigan could dare Basil to guess what his evil plan was, in an alternate version of the « appointment at Buckingham Palace » of the final version which would make Basil's mind shine even more given that this version of the riddle was way more cryptic. So now we've got two identifications. So please, readers, post a comment about your own opinion. Catégorie:The Great Mouse Detective Archives